Illinois Republican Party

School Board sues Democratic lawmaker over rent
12/22/2009

By Rosalind Rossi - Chicago Sun-Times

State Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) has been occupying a rent-free Chicago Board of Education building for seven years and owes more than $500,000 in rent, leaseholder taxes and penalties on it, a new report by the schools inspector general indicated Monday.

Chicago Public School officials last month demanded back rent from Davis and even moved to evict her from 1234 W. 95th St., a building Davis has used for years as her legislative district office.

Davis, a former Chicago Board of Education administrator and member of the Illinois House Education Committee, said she will hold a news conference this week about the latest turn of events.

"I have not done anything wrong,'' Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The new annual report by Schools Inspector General James Sullivan indicates Davis has been occupying the board-owned building for at least 14 years but hasn't paid any rent there for the last seven. As a result, the report said, Davis -- who was only called a "local elected public official'' in the report -- owes nearly $75,000 in back rent.

And, the report found, as a leaseholder of publicly owned property, Davis -- not the Board of Education -- is responsible for leaseholder taxes dating back at least 20 years and totaling $157,500, plus close to $287,000 in penalties for nonpayment.

The Board of Ed sent Davis a letter in 2002 saying it expected her to vacate the building by July 1, 2002, Sullivan said Monday. It followed up with more correspondence in August 2006, September 2007, and April and September of 2008, he said. On Nov. 18, it finally filed a legal claim for back rent and eviction.

After her lease expired in 2002, Davis said, she asked then-School Board President Michael Scott to sign a new lease and he said, " 'I'll get back to you.' . . . The indication was 'I'll get this done for you.' '' Davis said she needed a signed lease so she could submit it to the state and get reimbursed for the cost of operating a district office.

Finally, Davis said, board officials produced a lease this year, but in it they wanted Davis to be responsible for all repairs to the building, as well as property taxes.

As a government-owned building, Davis said, the site should have been exempt from taxes.

However, Sullivan said, the Illinois Department of Revenue ruled back in 1998 that Davis' use of the building for a district office did not make it tax-exempt.

Davis charged that CPS officials waited until after Scott's Nov. 15 suicide to take the most recent action against her.

"The president of the board obviously didn't give his OK or wanted to do it in a different way,'' Davis said. "It's quite obvious they [board officials] waited until Michael died to do this.''

SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times

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